In 46th Ward, 11 battle to replace Shiller as alderman

Uptown's crime, business slump are key issues

February 16, 2011|By Erika Slife, Tribune reporter

The vacant storefronts, the web videos of street gang brawls and the crumbling Wilson Red Line stop all belie the vibe that pulsates among Uptown residents who believe their community is primed for progress.

The neighborhood is rich in Chicago history, with the legendary Green Mill Cocktail Lounge, a century-old jazz club, in the heart of its entertainment district. It's also ethnically diverse, and home to some of the city's best Southeast Asian restaurants. And there's been development in the retail-hungry locale, with last summer's opening of Wilson Yard, which features a Target store, an Aldi grocer, housing and other businesses.

With change seemingly on the cusp, the sometimes controversial Ald. Helen Shiller is retiring after 24 years. Pent-up political ambition has been unleashed, with 11 candidates vying for 46th Ward alderman. It's a wide-open contest that seems destined to end up in an April 5 runoff featuring Tuesday's top two finishers.

The candidates are offering similar messages, stressing public safety and economic development as the ward's two top concerns. Given that, the contest is coming down more to which candidate's experience and background voters like best.

"We're also kind of at a dawn of a new frontier, really, to reinvent what Chicago is and how we operate," said candidate Molly Phelan, a real estate and tax attorney. "I think we need strong leadership that has the experience to tackle the big issues we have ahead of us."

Phelan, 39, said her time working on drug and gang housing issues for the city while attending law school has given her the know-how to go after landlords whose buildings are hubs of criminal activity. As alderman, she said, she would set up a hotline through which residents could anonymously report building problems without fear of retribution from property managers or their neighbors.

Phelan — no relation to former Cook County Board President Richard Phelan — also wants to bring "pop-up" art galleries to the vacant storefronts in Uptown. It's a program that allows artists to open rent-free galleries with the stipulation that they keep "for rent" signs in their windows and can be out of the storefronts on 24 hours notice. Galleries, she said, would bring foot traffic to the streets — a must for any prospective business owner.

She has the backing of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and the women's political fund EMILY's List.

Candidate Emily Stewart, 30, is a corporate finance attorney who was born and raised in Uptown. She said it's imperative that the new City Council order a forensic budget audit to "see where that money is actually going," and enact pension reform for current city workers.

"You can't really talk about crime or economic development unless you address this budget crisis," said Stewart, a lesbian whose maternal grandmother is from Japan. "Unless we address pension reform, there's no way we're going to be able to do any of the things we hope to do in the 46th Ward."

Scott Baskin, 61, is CEO of Mark Shale, an 80-year-old family clothing business. The father of two points to the lakefront, CTA access and Truman College as major strengths of the ward that could be used as selling points to potential business owners.

"There are 44 empty storefronts on Broadway, just in our ward. The neighborhood to the south of us and the neighborhood to the north of us are thriving. I know we can get businesses and restaurants and retailers to fill those spaces," he said. "I know it can happen. It just takes some effort and some thinking and some perseverance and once it starts, it's like a snowball going downhill."

He's endorsed by former U.S. Rep. Abner Mikva and former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Newton Minow.

James Cappleman, 58, is a social worker and longtime community activist who ran a competitive campaign against Shiller in 2007. He said transparency is one of his top campaign pledges.

"I've been a community activist all my life, and I was discouraged about the crime in the area, I was discouraged about the lack of community development and most of all I was discouraged by the lack of input that residents had about the decisions that directly affected them," said Cappleman, who said he proposed to his partner of nearly 20 years on the night the Illinois House passed civil unions.

Cappleman also wants the city to work closer with Cook County's drug court, which offers substance abuse treatment as an alternative to jail time and also said he wants to go after landlords whose buildings have a high number of 911 calls.